The End.
In 1559 his work was completed, so far as human work can be
completed, but Calvin had almost reached the limit of his
strength--I mean his physical strength, for his intellectual and
moral powers remained undiminished to the last. His health of
body drooped and failed, but his intellect remained clear and his
will unshaken. His soul was one of those which lack time on earth
for full development, and return again to God without having
expended all the store of wealth and power with which at their
creation he has endowed them. On the 2d of February, 1564, Calvin
gave his last lecture on theology, and on the following Sunday,
the 6th, he preached his last sermon. He had an attack of
bleeding from the lungs whilst he was in the pulpit, and all
speaking in public was after that prohibited. He was still
constantly engaged in study or writing, and when his friends
urged him to take a complete rest, he said: 'Then you wish that
when the Lord comes he shall not find me watching.' On Easter
Day, the 2d of April, he was carried to the church and received
the sacrament from the hands of Beza. He expressed a wish to be
carried to the Hôtel de Ville on the 27th of April, in order that
he might once more pay his respects to the Syndics and the
Council.
{356}
But they prevented this by visiting him in a body at his own
house. He thanked them 'for having condescended to show him so
much more honour than he had any claim to, and begged them to
excuse him for having done so much less than he ought to have
done, both in public and private life; and he thanked them also
for having patiently borne with his great vehemence and other
sins, of which he repented, and which he trusted that God had
forgiven.' He then with much gentleness offered them very
judicious advice as to the government of the republic, 'and
having begged them to pardon all his faults, which could never
have seemed so great in any eyes as they had done in his own,' he
held out his hand to say farewell. Beza says: 'I do not think
that any parting could have been more sad for these gentlemen. On
account of his office they all looked upon him, and with good
reason, as speaking to them from God, and they had an affection
for him as for a father, since he had known and trained many of
them from their youth upward.' On the 28th of April all the
evangelical ministers in the city and neighbourhood were
assembled in his room, and Calvin addressed his last counsels and
last farewell to them, speaking with solemn and affectionate
familiarity, like a chief who takes leave of his companions when
he is about to set out on some great enterprise: 'It may seem to
you,' he said, 'that I say too much, and that I am not really so
ill as I make people think; but I assure you, that although I
have often been ill before, I have never felt as I do now, nor
have I ever been so weak. When I am moved in order to be placed
on my bed, my head swims, and I faint immediately.
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There is also this shortness of breath, which troubles me more
and more. I am in all things unlike other sick people, for when
they are near death their mind grows weak and wanders; whilst as
for me, it is true that I am as it were benumbed, but it seems as
if God intended to shut up all my senses within me and keep them
there. And I think that it will be very difficult for me to die,
and will cost a great effort, and I may lose the power of speech
whilst I still possess all my faculties. But I have given warning
of this, and have said what I wish should be done with me, and
for the same reason I desire to speak to you before God takes
me.' He then reminded them of all the principal incidents in his
political and religious career, the struggles which he had been
called upon to maintain for the Gospel and the Reformation, and
ended by saying: 'Gird yourselves up and take courage, for God
has a use for this church, and will maintain it. I tell you God
will keep it in safety. ... You have elected Monsieur de Bèze in
my place: take care that you comfort and support him, for he will
have a great responsibility. As for him, I know that his will is
good, and he will do what he can. See also that there are no
bickerings and no angry words among you; for I know that
oftentimes, when taunts are uttered, we see nothing but smiles at
the time, but there is great bitterness in the heart. It is all
of no use, and moreover there is a want of Christianity in it.
You must guard against it, and live in all true peace and
friendship.
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I had forgotten one thing. I beg you to make no changes, and to
introduce no novelties. People are always seeking novelty. Not
that I am thinking for myself, or speaking from ambition and a
desire that what I have begun shall continue, and that people
shall cling to it and not seek that which is better, but because
all changes are dangerous, and sometimes injurious.'
These last words were preserved by one of the ministers present,
who closes his account of the interview by saying: 'He took leave
kindly of all his brother pastors, who went up to him one by one
weeping, and shook hands with him.' ... 'Which caused me such
anguish and bitterness of heart,' adds Beza, 'that I cannot
recall it now without exceeding sorrow.'
There was still another last farewell about which Calvin was
anxious. He wished to take leave of his old friend Farel, who
twenty-eight years previously had induced him to stay at Geneva,
and thus had decided the work of his life; and for whom he
entertained an affection, which was perhaps the deepest and most
tender feeling he ever knew. On the 2d of May he received a
letter in which Farel, hearing of his illness, announced his
intention of visiting him. Calvin immediately dictated the
following answer: 'Fare thee well, my very dear and good brother!
and since it pleases God that you shall remain behind me, live in
the memory of our union, the fruit of which awaits us in heaven,
for it has been profitable to the church and to God. I will not
have you fatigue yourself for me. I draw my breath with very
great difficulty, and from hour to hour I expect breath will fail
me. It is enough that I live and die in Christ, which is gain to
those that are his, both in life and death.
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I commend you to God, together with our brethren who are in your
parts.' Nevertheless Farel arrived; came on foot, say some, from
Neufchâtel to Geneva, in spite of his seventy-five years of age.
The two friends supped together, just those two. Farel preached
on the morrow, and then returned at once to Neufchâtel, saying in
his heart, as he said a few days later in a letter to Fabri: 'Why
was I not taken in his place, and many years of health granted
him for the service of the church and of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Praises be to God a thousand times for his inestimable grace in
allowing me to meet this man and detain him, against his will, at
Geneva, where he has begun and completed more than any tongue can
tell!' After the departure of Farel, Calvin only saw some of his
colleagues, the Genevese ministers, for a few moments. They were
to dine together in his house on the 19th of May; he remained in
his own chamber, which was quite close to the dining-room, and
said, 'with the most joyous face in the world,' says Beza: 'The
wall that is between us will not prevent my being with you in
spirit.' Both by day and night many persons, some of whom had
travelled a great distance, came to Calvin's door, asking to see
him or at least to have tidings of him. Beza says: 'On the 27th
of May, 1564, he seemed to speak with less difficulty and more
vigorously; but this was a last effort of nature, for towards
night-time, about eight o'clock, all the signs of approaching
death suddenly set in. I was sent for immediately, and ran to the
house, together with some of my brethren, but I found that he had
already given up the ghost.
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He had died peacefully, without any last struggle, had been able
to speak clearly to the very last moment, and had been in full
possession of his judgment and all his senses; he had not moved
either hand or foot, and so he looked asleep rather than dead.
Thus, in an instant, our sun set on that day; and the greatest
light of this world, and the glory of the church, was withdrawn
and taken back into the heavens. We may well say that in our time
it has pleased God to show us in one single man both how to live
and how to die.'
'On the following day and night,' says Beza, 'there was great
lamentation throughout the city, for the people mourned for the
prophet of the Lord; the poor flock in the church wept for the
loss of their faithful pastor; the academy deplored its true
head, and all in common bewailed their beloved father and their
chief comforter next to God. He was placed in a simple wooden
coffin, and about two hours after mid-day, in accordance with his
own wish, was carried in the usual manner, without any pomp or
ceremony, to the public cemetery called Plain Palais. There he
lies to this very day, waiting for the resurrection which was his
own constant hope, as he taught us to make it ours. I say that
all was done quite simply, according to the custom of our church
in the burial of any person whatsoever; so that a few months
later, when certain new students who had come to the college
went, one day, to the cemetery to visit Calvin's tomb, they found
that they were mistaken. They expected to see some lofty and
magnificent monument, and there was only a simple mound of earth,
and it was just like all the other graves. And this may serve as
an answer to those who have long accused us of making an idol of
Calvin.'
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In the registers of the Consistory, under date of the 1st of
June, 1564, a cross follows the name of _Calvin_, †, and by
the side of it are these words, 'He went to God on the 27th of
May in this year.'
Men are called great and obtain a place in history under
different titles. With some it is exalted station, and glory, and
great power during their lifetime which makes them great; with
others the importance and permanence of their works; with others
again it is moral elevation of nature and beauty and purity of
life. The greatness of Calvin arises from all these sources; he
is great by reason of his marvellous powers, his lasting labours,
and the moral height and purity of his motives. When Pope Pius
IV. heard of his death, he said: 'The strength of that heretic
consisted in this, that money never had the slightest charm for
him. If I had such servants, my dominions would extend from sea
to sea.' It is true that Calvin's disinterestedness was a very
prominent characteristic, but it was by no means his chief or
only one. He was never influenced or governed by any interest,
any desire, any personal pleasure other than the triumph of his
faith, and the success of his labours for a moral as well as a
religious reformation. Although he took a leading part in a great
revolution, he had neither revolutionary ideas nor passions. He
was essentially a lover of order, he knew the conditions as well
as the claims of power, and had received from nature the gift of
exercising authority. Upon principle he neither recognised nor
admitted the claims of liberty, either in human nature or human
society. In his eyes man was God's instrument and not a
'fellow-worker with God,' as St. Paul says.
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God, as he thought, had preordained the destiny of every man, and
of the whole human race. The mission of the civil powers was
therefore to recognise and carry out the law of God in all its
precepts and towards all its subjects, in private as well as in
public life, both in the family and in the state. But, in point
of fact, and in spite of his doctrines on free-will and
predestination, Calvin contributed largely to the progress of
liberty in the Christian world, for he both claimed and used it
in opposition to the religious and civil tyrants of his period.
He separated Church and State, but he united laymen and
ecclesiastics in the government of the religious society, and he
placed the soul of man not under the direction of a priest but
under the direct influence of the law of God made known in the
Scriptures. As a moral philosopher he was inaccurate and
inconsistent, but he was strictly consistent in the practical
application of his theories to his own conduct and his duties
towards his fellow-men. He honoured men but did not trust them;
had an ardent desire for their moral welfare, but did not dare to
leave their part in its accomplishment in their own hands; and he
obtained the devoted affection of the best men and the esteem of
all, without ever seeking to please them.
Earnest in faith, pure in motive, austere in his life, and mighty
in his works, Calvin is one of those who deserve their great
fame. Three centuries separate us from him, but it is impossible
to examine his character and history without feeling, if not
affection and sympathy, at least profound respect and admiration
for one of the great reformers of Europe and of the Great
Christians of France.
Guizot.
Val Richer, 1869.
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Note To St. Louis.
_The Punishment of Blasphemy_, p. 144.
One of my learned colleagues, M. Natalis de Wailly (_Académie
des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres_) has pointed out that the
punishment of branding a blasphemer on the lips with a red-hot
iron (p. 144) was probably resorted to on account of some
peculiarly heinous offence, and was an isolated case; that it
cannot be considered as due to any general and permanent decree
applied to all cases of 'that vile oath,' blasphemy, because
there is an enactment of St. Louis (_Recueil des Ordonnances
des Rois de France_, i. 99) which decrees that adult
blasphemers shall be punished by a fine, or in default of fine,
by the pillory and imprisonment. Blasphemers under fourteen years
of age were to be whipped. M. de Wailly's remark is just, and I
hasten to acknowledge that in this matter the piety of St. Louis
did not systematically lead him to exercise general and excessive
rigour.
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List Of The Most Important Of The Works
Referred To In This Volume.
St. Louis.
Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartres.
Dom Bouquet's _Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la
France_, vol. xx.
Faure (Félix), _Histoire de Saint Louis_. Paris, 1867.
Histoire littéraire de France, vol. xvi.
Joinville. Edition published by Mr. N. de Wailly. Paris, 1867.
Jubainville, _Histoire des Dues et des Comtes de Champagne_.
Paris (Mathieu), _Histoire de l'Angleterre_. Folio edition, 1644.
Recueil des Ordonnances des Rois de France, vol. i.
Rémusat (Abel), _Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et
Belles Lettres_.
Tillemont (le Nain du), _Vie ae Saint Louis_, édit, par De
Gaulle (_Soc. de l'Histoire de France_). 1847-51.
Topin (Morin), _Aiguesmortes_. 1865.
Calvin.
Beza,
_L'Histoire en bref de la Vie et Mort de Calvin_, par Th.
de Bèze. Lyons, 1565. (_Archives curieuses de L'Histoire de
France_.)
_Histoire des Églises réformées de France_.
Calvin, _Œuvres de Calvin_. Brunswick, 1863.
Drelincourt, _La Défense de Calvin_. Genève, 1667.
Gaberel (Jean, _ancien pasteur_), _Histoire de l'Église de
Genève_. Genève, 1853.
Guizot (C. F. G.),
_Meditations sur la Religion_. Paris, 1868.
_Histoire de la Civilisation en France_. Paris, 1868.
Henry (Paul), _Das Leben Johann Calvins_. Hamburg, 1835.
Martin (Henri), _Histoire de France_, vol. xxiv.
Stähelin (Lie. E.), _Johannes Calvin_ (_Hagenbach_). 1860-63.